Need to survive
by imaginarypaths
Summary: Everyone, deep down, knows it's only a matter of time until zombies will show up. Muggles still think it's a epidemic, Wizards know better, and Lily seems to be the only one who needs to survive. Zombie/Inferi apocalypse!AU [series of related one-shots]
1. Need to survive

_"The epidemic is rapidly growing. It quickly travels from east to west, moving from one body to the other, causing a panic and a major exodus of refugees. For now, in Great Britain, the threat seems limited; however the illegal migration is intensifying, interfering with the health controls—"_

Lily stared at the Muggle reporter on the news who kept telling about all those horrors, his voice unstable. This whole epidemic thing was all they had been talking about in the last few days, new disturbing details popping up at every hour. At first she had thought it was a a false alarm, a lie, like it had happened many times in the past. But everything had proven to be true.

The Wizards spoke about people infected through a bite. Those people died. And then... Lily shivered whenever she thought of it. Then, they came back to life just to eat the living and/or _—_ she hadn't really understood, or maybe they were just being vague about it on purpose _—_ turning them into monsters as well.

On the television, they were now showing _—again—_ images of decomposing bodies, sometimes with some limbs missing, as the reporters were interviewing a groud of doctors about what kind of disease could cause all of this. The academics scratched their heads, shook them, caressed their beards, and overall looked puzzled and distressed, their eyes squinting behind those thick glasses as they examined the dead bodies.

Lily briefly wondered why only wizards got attacked by those vicious creatures, but she was not so deluzional to think that it'd never happen. It was only a matter of days. Just like it was only a matter of days until she would break the so-called _Statute of Wizarding Secrecy._ She was not going to go down without a fight, especially since for now she seemed to be on her own. For now, at least.

 _"The government advises against any contact with people who love across the country as it's not still clear what areas are the most affected by the epidemic—"_

 _Yeah,_ she angrily scoffed _, that's definitely a good idea. Let's face the monsters on our own._

Fortunately, she had some books—both Muggle and not—about zombies ( _or were those things Inferi?_ she hadn't been able to get it yet), and with a lot of research, putting together both the knowledge and news coming from the Wizard world and the Muggle world, she reckoned it would take at least five more days before the monsters reached her town. _Hopefully_. That would give her enough time to figure out something.

"Mum," she called. "I'm going for a run."

"Ok, but don't take too long. I've just started making dinner."

"Don't worry," Lily answered blowing her mother a kiss as she rushed outside to procure what she thought she'd need as she didn't want to be caught off guard. She had already read all the survival manuals she could get, and she knew a lot about surviving on a desert island.

She started a mental list: shelter, food, water, medicines, bandages, weapons (her wand may not be enough), valid and trustworthy companions, and much, very much will to live— _that was crucial._

She also thought that she needed to get in her best shape in case she'd find herself facing those evil creatures. And—her Gryffindor spirit rebelled against that thought—in case her only chance was to turn around and run.

 _There's nothing honorable about escaping_ , a voice that was creepily similar to Potter's said.

"Shut up, Potter! Do you really need to torment me here too?" she muttered. "There's no honor in death if it's just for the sake of it. Or pride."

* * *

A/N1 Written for the Character Admiration Tournament on The Golden Snitch forum. School: Beauxbatons. House: Melusine. Team Light. WC: 633

First round:

 **Barty Crouch Jr (dark) VS Lily Evans (light)**

 **Task: How would these characters fare in the Zombie/Inferi apocalypse?**

A/N2 I'll be probably posting more in this universe so this will turn into a series of related vignettes, but not a proper story, sorry.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed! And feel free to let me know if there's something you wish to see, it'd help me ;)


	2. The shelter

"Mum," Lily said. "I'm going out."

"Again?"

"Yes, well..." Lily shuffled her feet. "I just want to catch some air. You know, as long as it's summer."

"Of course, my dear. I think you'd better hang out with somebody."

Lily tried her best to ignore that that _somebody_ could mean Petunia–who, by the way, wouldn't have come with her for any reason and was having the time of her life with that guy, Vernon Durs-something. Well, maybe in case of a zombie attack her sister would prove to be more willing to cooperate, Lily reckoned.

"–you should enjoy yourself," her mum was saying.

"I like being alone, and right now I need that. Please?" It was not that she had no friends; and Severus had always been enough even though thay'd been drifting apart lately. Unfortunately, that would have to wait.

"Sometimes you are so serious. Well, I'd rather have a sensible daughter over a reckless one," her mum smiled.

"Thank you, Mum!"

"See you later then."

"Bye!"

Lily didn't tell anything about her plan as she wanted to avoid useless questions, but feeling her Mum turning on the TV, she stopped in the garden and hid behind a big bush to listen to it for news about the so-called epidemic. She couldn't believe the Muggles still refused to awknoledge the zombies. And she couldn't understand why the zombies showed themselves as such only to magical people yet.

Sure enough, after some brief advertisment, she heard what she was waiting for. And it was not good.

 _"The diseased cases have been growing in the United Kingdom. International voyages have been blocked because to protect ourselves against the infection that's spread in German and France and has reached the many other European and Asian Defence members encourage people stay alert. The Queen qill give a speech at 9 pm. Please, stay tuned."  
_

Lily tightened her grip on the old and rusty key of the bunker she had found and had deemed suitable. It had been built during the Second World War, and the previous owner had turned it into a pub, but now it was abandoned. It was in open country, and that makes it definitely better than her own house as a refuge. The best thing she had immediately noticed was its big steel door. She had checked it out; it was still sturdy. And heavy. OPening it had proven to be quite complicated-

She had already brought tables, chairs, supplies and water, and she was actually considering bringing some books and games in case they'd need–and more importantly, would _be able_ –to stay in there for long.

There wasn't any proper bathroom despite the bunker having been a pub, but she had been able to arrange some sort of... latrine. The tub was rusty but it would suffice.

Now she was carrying her survival kit, pocket-knives, some rope, and sleeping bags.

 _Weapons will be the next step_ , she grimly thought.

* * *

Written for the Character Admiration Tournament on The Golden Snitch forum. School: Beauxbatons. House: Melusine. Team Light. WC: 508

First round:

 **Barty Crouch Jr (dark) VS Lily Evans (light)**

 **Task: How would these characters fare in the Zombie/Inferi apocalypse?**


	3. Realization

**Warning: mention of some violence.**

* * *

When the humans realized what was really happening, there was chaos. _It was inevitable_ , Lily thought. The dead came back to life and attacked the living; one bite was enough to infect them.

She watched in horror the images flowing on the TV. The sky was dark, the trees bending. The voice of the journalist who commented them barely reached her ears as something was hissing and echoing in the background. It seemed to come out from the TV but she was sure those sounds weren't caused by any circuit.

She curled up on the couch and tucked her feet beneath her, shivering.

 _"_ _—thousands of infected cases. People are invited to stay on their own houses as much as possible. As soon as a non-dead was spotted, call the police and hide. Even if the dead was a relative of yours, you are not to have any mercy based on what we know about the genesis of zombies; the dead will soon turn into a zombie and attack you. It was found that hose creatures have no memories, and their ability to understand is low, so don't speak to them for any reason_ _—"_

"MUM! DAD! Are you hearing? We should get ready!"

"Lily, you are sixteen! It's not your job to solve this," her mum said. Her voice was steady, but Lily wasn't fooled by it.

She heard her parents whispering to each other until she couldn't take it any longer. "Look, it's serious. As we talk, the zombies are coming closer," she insisted.

Her dad immediately hushed her mum, and Lily stopped talking too.

"Dad?"

There was no answer.

"George, say something," her mum said.

"What's there to say? Lily is probably; we should prepare for the worst," her dad sighed. "And call Patunia. It's not safe for her to go out with that boy alone."

 _Fortunately, there's that bunker_ , Lily thought, planning to go and check it out again soon. It was almost ready.

That thought and the axe she's been bringing with her for the last three days—plus her wand, of course; but she wasn't sure it'd help—comforted her a bit. But there was still something that was bothering her.

 _Severus._

 _"The South is in a panick, and_ — _"_

Lily turned off the TV and peeked out the window.

The sun was setting.

.

 _I killed him. I killed my best friend. His dead body is in front of me and is not different from the other corpses I saw._

 _It's not my fault._

 _I'm not a murderer._

 _They had already killed him._

 _I want to run._

 _I can't move._

 _Everything looks blurry, black and white, like in some old movie._

 _"Lily!" Someone shakes me. "Lily!_

 _"W-what?" I say. And I don't recognize my voice. It's raspy. My thorat is hoarse as if full of smoke._

 _"Lily!"_

 _I stare; I don't understand._

 _Blood. So much blood._

 _"Let me go," I say. "Sev..."_

"Lily, wake up."

It was Petunia. Lily looked at her and suddenly hugged her for the first time in a while. She felt her sister stiffening but she didn't let go.

Sure enough, after some seconds, Petunia's arms were circling her.

"Stay with me," Lily asked, rolling over, noticing she was shaking too.

Petunia only nodded and quickly complied.

* * *

 **Thank you so much for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing!**

 **Written for the 'Character Admiration Tournament' and 'Prompt of the Day' on The Golden Snitch forum. School: Beauxbatons. House: Melusine. Team Light. WC: 562**

 **Prompts:**

 **\- Barty Crouch Jr (dark) VS Lily Evans (light) Task: How would these characters fare in the Zombie/Inferi apocalypse?**

 **-(Word) genesis**


	4. Something worth (Lily&Severus)

_"Lily, wait! What's wrong?"_

 _"What's wrong?" Lily repeated in a mocking tone. "You ask me what's wrong? Really, Severus?" she said, forcing herself to use his full name to let him know she was really angry._

 _"Pleas_ — _"_

 _She didn't want to hear. "Now that I think of it, I was so happy to see your evil new friends insulting me that I'm actually worn out."_

 _"There's no need to use that tone. It's not like you haven't made any other friends among those Lions," Severus angrily said._

 _"I just answered that way because yours was a stupid wuestion. And it's not like I've been enjoying myself sharing the same House as Potter and the others. You are being unfair; it seems like you can't understand anymore."_

 _"You think I don't understand?"_

 _"Clearly not. Còearly you don't care. Or you wouldn't be hanging out with those... criminals!" Lily found herself willingly adding fuel to the fire even when all she wanted to do was spending their holiday catching up with Severus. She knew Hogwarts was taking a toll on the two of them. She knew she was being mean and unfair. Yet she couldn't bring herself to shut up. And apparently, neither could Severus._

 _"You know what? I'll show you what 'not caring' really means," he told, turning his back and walking away._

 _Lily stared, her anger lingering. How could he ask what was wrong? He had been there when his friends had taunted her. She had seen regret flashing in his eyes, yet he had done nothing._

 _The sun was shining, but she could only watch Severus' shadow and suddenly, she was cold._

.

The street was empty.

Lily was walking back and forth in front of Severus' house, the doubts tormenting and mocking her. _What am I going to tell? What if he doesn't want to listen to me? To see me?_

She knew she had to stop thinking or she would not be able to do anything, much less apologizing. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Nobody answered, so she tried again.

Severus must still be angry at her.

She knocked another time.

Still silence.

She peeped through the windows. The house was dark.

She gathered her courage and put her hand on the doorknob. The door easily opened.

"Is there anybody? Hey!"

Apparently, nobody was at home.

She looked around and something drew her attention; the living room was a mess. Everything was overthrown and broken.

She felt her hands were sweaty as an unpleasant, unwelcome thought suddenly popped up in her mind. The suspect is only confirmed by something else she had previously failed to notice; the footprints in driveway.

 _Zombies. They had come._

Her heart seemed about to explode, hurting her ribcage.

"No! No! Severus! SEV!"

She rushed out.

"Severus!"

Suddenly, a rustle made her go quiet. Before she could even realize what was going on, a thin hand was pressed on her mouth. Her eyes went wide and she struggle to avoid the bite, to reach her pocket-knife.

"Lily, it's just me," a voice said. It was warm, it was alive, it was familiar.

The hand was removed from her mouth. "Severus," she whispered. "You scared me to death."

"Sorry." He looked embarrassed. "I couldn't let you scream that way. _They_ could return."

"So I was right. It was _them_."

Severus sighed. "Someone knocked a few hours ago. My mother opened the door and was faced with some zombies. She screamed. My father picked his gun. It was all for nothing. I don't... I don't know... I didn't..." He was trembling.

Lily hugged him. It was then when she noticed, "You're bleeding. Come, I have some bandages and antiseptic."

"I know. I tried to make it stop with a handkerchief. Didn't work."

"It's very importand not to be bleeding. They smell it, they feel it. It draws them as if they were sharks, and the whole world was their ocean. It's terrible. Come, I can fix it" she smiled reassuringly.

Severus smiled back.

Lily took his hand.

And just like that, she knew they had forgiven each other and were still friends and everything would be good as long as they were together.

* * *

 **I hope you don't mind some Snily friendship. It was not supposed to happen, but I couldn't help it :)**

 **Written for the Golden Snitch Forum: Prompt of the Day - (word) holiday; Character Admiration Tournament:** ** _Task: How would Lily fare in the Zombie/Inferi apocalypse?_**

 **WC: 724**


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